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Principles of ethical leadership
Principles of ethical leadership
Principles of ethical leadership
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A STUDY OF TOXIC LEADERS IN THE MORDERN WORLD
From the anti-Jews case of Adol Hitler to the distressing fraud action of Jeff skilling in Enron, considering the conning case of Charles Keating to the case of Dennis Kozlowski, and from the brutal case of Chairman Mao Zedong of china to the fierce act of Albert. J. Dunlap of Sunbeam (Lipman-Blumen, 2004). One can therefore say the antiquity of politics and business enterprises is heavily endowed with toxic leaders. These self-destructed people crave power so much that they make extremely vicious decisions meant to benefit them and degrade others. Toxic leaders intent to control everyone around them, they accept and enjoy the work credit of their followers and conclusively deny any blame. Even though these toxic leaders shine in the moment of grandeur, they ultimately have a habit of failing horribly, abandoning their businesses in shreds and setting their embarrassing deeds in history.
Plethora of these heartless yet proficient leaders have been seen in recent eras comparatively as anti-social persons, humanitarians and saints hardly strive for positions in political or corporate government. These leaders believe that certain traits like self-effacement and altruism are of little help to someone in a political system. It is a leader’s nature to be ambitious and competitive, dedicated, charismatic and intelligent, confident and cunning. Nonetheless one thing to keep in mind is that those features can push a leader’s approach and overall behavior to change into the state of toxicity.
Who is a toxic leader?
Giving a clear definition of who a toxic leader is can almost be impossible as it is very tricky. Heroic leaders like Alexandra the great, franklin Roosevelt, Roberto Go...
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...2004). The Allure of Toxic Leaders: Why We Follow Destructive Bosses and Corrupt Politicians- and How We Can Survive Them. New York: Oxford University Pess.
Lipman-Blumen, J. (2005). The Allure of Toxic Leader. New York: Oxford University Press.
Padgett, T. (2002, May Sunday). The Rise And Fall Of Bernie Ebbers. Retrieved April Friday, 2014, from Time: http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,235450,00.html
Page, C. (2011, February Sunday). Toxic Leadership, Violence. Retrieved April Friday, 2014, from In A spacious Place: https://inaspaciousplace.wordpress.com/2011/02/26/toxic-leadership/
Slattery, C. (2009). The Dark Side of Leadership. Troubling Times at the Top, 1-15.
Sonam. (2011, March Monday). Examples of Toxic Leadership. Retrieved April Friday, 2014, from Leadership: http://sonamgorajia.blogspot.com/2011/03/examples-of-toxic-leadership.html
What characteristics do leaders embody? In today’s society, leaders convey strength and kindness with no attention paid to their downfalls. In A Separate Peace, Phineas is a leader with flaws, despite his high standing amongst others. John Knowles characterizes Phineas as a naive and daring static character in his novel A “Separate Peace” by employing dialogue, action, and Gene’s descriptions and feelings towards him.
Throughout the centuries, this world has maintained various leaders that have ruled far and wide, or a small domain. All of which had various roles, morals, goals, etc.; some infamous, some admired, and some truly despised. There is a vast amount of written works pertaining to become a great leader. Lao-Tzu and Niccoló Machiavelli are prime examples of people who have written works about the topic, yet their views and ideas differ greatly. Yet, despite their opposite views, their intake and thoughts about leadership, both Lao-Tzu and Machiavelli’s indulge logically and carefully on a more personal and human level.
In choosing modern leaders, one can take a lesson from the Greeks in how a person’s character can affect his leadership abilities and his constituents. Even positive traits without self-control can lead to devastating ends. Hesiod’s words hold true through the ages,
Ever since humanity created the idea of civilization, there has been an immense need for great leadership and it takes a remarkable person to be a leader adequate enough to handle all the nuances of leadership on such a grand scale. It requires a person so apt, that humanity has seldom seen any people virtuous and intelligent enough to rule over people so effectively as to create negligible problems. While numerous romanticize the position of a remarkable leader, it is a position that comes with copious downfalls and would, consequently, only be a life worth pursuing and living to a sparse few, seeing that, in the end, while those who lead nobly and intelligently may receive honor to the highest magnitude and a legacy that will last forever, the life of leadership doesn’t motivate a life of happiness. The life of leadership on a grand scale is defective in that a person in this position can no longer be themselves and live a life that is best for them, they are required to be what is best to gain and maintain their position.
Simon Klinek discusses about how as well as why respectable leaders are leaders the reasons behind why they do what they do and the reactions these leader’s actions cause to those surrounding them. The fact in which a person becomes a leader is a matter of choice, and a willingness to put another person before one’s self the idea of getting the fall so that another is able to triumph and succeed. Simon utilizes ethos, pathos, and logos in an effective manner during his presentation examples are as follows.
Lipman-Blumen, J. & Blumen, J. (2005). The 'Secondary' of the 'Se The Allure of Toxic Leaders. New York, New York: Oxford University Press.
In James G. Clawson case study A Leader’s Guide To Why People Behave The Way They Do we learned how the mentality of leaders is deeply influenced by their parents. One of the key things to take away from Clawson article is how parents can potentially have a lasting effect in the outlooks of a child that can affect them later on in life as adults. As babies are born they are born without any type perceptions created on their own, instead their perceptions and impressions are things that children pick up along the way from their parents. This in return can cause most adults to interpret situations differently from one another.
Historically, many dictators and democratic leaders have almost always wanted to be loved, while those leaders responsible for maintaining law and order by force – such as corporate managers, department heads, police – wish to be feared. In some respects, it is impossible to have one without the other. To be loved would imply weakness in one’s leadership; to be feared would bring the assumption that a ruler is heartless and uncaring about his people and their welfare. With too much love comes the want for a more respectable, terrifying figure that could not ever possibly be overthrown or taken advantage of, and vice versa. It is the human habit to want what we cannot have, as the proverbial grass of politics will always seem greener on the other side.
Machiavelli in his famous book “The Prince” describes the necessary characteristics for a strong and successful leader. He believes that one of the most important characteristics is to rule in favor of his government and to hold power in his hands. Power is an essential aspect of Machiavelli’s theory, and a leader should do whatever it takes to keep it for the safety of his country because “the ends justifies the means.” To attain and preserve the power, a leader should rather be feared than loved by his people, but it is vital not to be hated. As he states, “anyone compelled to choose will find far greater security in being feared than in being loved.” If a leader is feared, the people are less likely to revolt, and in the end, only a threat of punishment can guarantee obedienc...
Northouse, P. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
As Yukl (2010) indicates, such factors (e.g. personality, values and capacities) attributed to a leader. Normally it is widespread acknowledged that someone is born to be a lead...
I chose to write about John Grosvenor Rowland (born May 24, 1957) an American former politician and twice convicted felon. He was the 86th Governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004; as a politician, he was a member of the Republican Party. (In reading the book, “Why CEO’s fail” I found, John Rowland to possess the traits or arrogance and aloofness and micchievousness. It the book, arrogance is described as self-binding a belief in your own opinions. The book discusses how leaders afflicted with arrogance are the ones most likely to deny it derailing effect on their careers. In John Rowland’s case, he got caught up in his power trip and didn’t think anyone would catch up with his wrong doings. In the first year of Rowland's third term (2003),
Nayab, N. (2011, September 28). Examples of Companies with Autocratic Leadership. Retrieved October 27, 2011, from New York Times website: http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/77233.aspx
This change in hierarchical position often necessitates an advanced level of political skill not required in lower level positions. A persona of effective leadership often surrounds individuals in higher management positions which is key to influencing others around them. In terms of effective political skill, behaviors must be perceived as authentic and it is this perceived genuineness which lends itself to developing powerful alliances as well as inspiring lower level employees. Political skill is also seen as having the ability to increase one’s network resources, thereby having a positive effect on an individual’s career success as well as their job performance. Because of their overall charming and adaptable nature, politically skilled individuals are able to bridge gaps, build strong networking relationships and connect to wider social circles in order to move their career or organization in the direction of their desire (Wei, Chiang, & Wu, 2011.)
Contemporary society is always portrayed as a civilized society, in which the sense of democracy has come to woven throughout the fabric of our lives. Thanks to the mass media, the public has become more informed about what is happening in the world, from the political field such as the state and national government to the business area such as the international stock market. At the same time, people are paying more attention to the leaders. Some insist that since the major mission of the leaders is to lead the whole group to succeed in the intense competition, a leader should try every means to achieve his goal rather than care much about the ethic and morality. Those from the other camp hold a strong belief that to be an effective leader, a public official must maintain the highest ethical and moral standards. As far as I am concerned, I prefer the latter point of view. In the following discussion, I would like to present several evidences to support my standpoint.